This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

A community event for autism brought these three trustee candidates together. And after reading about a group of Toronto trustee candidates signing a “students first pledge,” they were inspired to sign on themselves — and even go beyond it with a few additional promises specific to Halton, where all three are running for the public school board.

“We’re hoping everyone keeps the best interests of kids in mind, and not their own agendas,” said Mary Dilly, a former trustee who is running again in Burlington. She created the Halton version of the pledge with Joanna Oliver, running in Oakville, and Margo Shuttleworth, vying for a seat to represent a different Burlington ward.

“We wanted to make the type of pledge that anyone who is running to be a trustee would want to sign, something open and transparent,” added Shuttleworth.

But they’ve also added promises to better support special education students through “time-sensitive testing” to identify needs, as well as “endeavour to provide appropriate resources to support all at-risk students . . . (and) to ensure that the student-to-educational assistant ratio is adequate.”

Article Continued Below

They’ll also promote walking to school, and “always recognize the impact that mental health issues have on students in our schools.”

“We’ve heard from a number of parents about kids with exceptionalities — we’ve heard stories that kids aren’t properly supported,” said Oliver. “This is a priority for us to address.”

In Toronto, four trustee candidates initially signed on to the pledge, with others — including incumbents — joining in, including Scarborough East Trustee Jerry Chadwick.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com